Structural variations in nanocrystalline nickel films

Abstract

Nanocrystalline nickel films of technological importance have been grown on various liquid nitrogen-cooled substrates by magnetron sputtering with and without a substrate bias. The atomic structural and chemical studies have unveiled variations in inter- and intragranular structures under the different process conditions. The origin and the development of the crystallization process with and without the substrate bias voltage have been inferred from the results.